TALKESPORT

GameStop’s audacious attempt to buy eBay is officially dead in the water. eBay’s board has rejected the proposal outright, and the language it used left very little room for interpretation.

What Just Happened

eBay chairman Paul Pressler wrote to GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen on Tuesday to deliver the board’s verdict. The letter was direct: “We have concluded that your proposal is neither credible nor attractive.”

The rejection lands after Cohen made headlines last week by announcing an unsolicited bid to buy eBay for $56 billion. The offer came in at $125 per share, a 20% premium to eBay’s price at the time. On paper it looked bold. In practice, the numbers raised immediate questions. GameStop’s market cap sits at roughly $10-12 billion. eBay is worth nearly four times that. Attempting to buy a company that much larger than yourself, with a deal structured around cash and stock, requires a convincing financing story. Cohen did not deliver one.

The Financing Problem That Sank the Bid

Cohen said GameStop had secured a $20 billion financing commitment from TD Securities, part of TD Bank. The letter, however, came with a significant catch: it was non-binding, and required the combined company to maintain an investment-grade credit profile from at least two of the three major ratings agencies.

Moody’s had already flagged concerns, noting that the proposed deal would be “credit negative” for eBay because of how much leverage the structure would pile on. With roughly $9 billion in cash on hand and a $20 billion conditional financing letter, GameStop was still billions short of a $56 billion deal, and the conditions attached to that letter made the gap even harder to bridge.

When Cohen appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box to make his case, the performance did not help. Asked directly how GameStop planned to fund the acquisition, he answered only that it would be “cash and stock” without further detail. The interview was widely described as awkward and combative, and analysts said it failed to generate the retail investor momentum that a deal of this scale would need.

What Cohen Actually Wanted

Cohen’s pitch to eBay had a clear logic to it, even if the financials did not. He argued that combining GameStop’s 1,600 US retail stores with eBay’s marketplace could build a serious competitor to Amazon, using physical locations to authenticate goods, fulfil orders, and power live commerce. He also pledged to slash costs and improve profitability, applying the same aggressive efficiency-focused approach he has pushed at GameStop.

Cohen told Business Insider he was never passionate about GameStop but has always wanted to run eBay. “I’m passionate about eBay. I believe in eBay’s business,” he said. eBay’s board, reviewing its own strong recent performance, its stock up 24% year-to-date and its turnaround strategy delivering results, was not moved.

The board’s rejection letter cited six specific factors it considered: eBay’s standalone prospects, the uncertainty of GameStop’s financial proposal, the impact on eBay’s long-term growth, the leverage and operational risks of a combined entity, the valuation implications, and GameStop’s own governance and executive incentive structure.

Who Is Already Out

Michael Burry, who built his reputation predicting the 2008 housing crash and became a cultural figure thanks to The Big Short, reportedly sold his entire GameStop stake after Cohen’s offer became public. Burry’s concern was straightforward: the deal could saddle GameStop with debt and dilute shareholders. The exit of one of GameStop’s most famous backers during the meme stock era sent a clear signal about Wall Street’s confidence in the proposal.

Gordon Haskett analysts, speaking before eBay’s rejection, called the offer a “lopsided marriage proposal” and said the odds of acceptance were always low. After the formal rejection, they noted the ball is now in Cohen’s court.

What Comes Next

Reuters has reported that Cohen may attempt a hostile takeover by taking the offer directly to eBay shareholders through a special meeting, bypassing the board entirely. That path is significantly harder and would require Cohen to persuade a shareholder base in a company doing well under its current management.

eBay described itself in the rejection letter as “a strong, resilient business” that has “delivered meaningful results over the past several years” and expressed full confidence in its current team. Its stock has climbed 24% this year. The case for its shareholders to force a deal with a smaller, debt-dependent buyer is not an obvious one.

For now, the bid is rejected. Cohen’s next move, whether he escalates or steps back, will determine whether this story has a second chapter or ends here. Keep an eye on TalkEsport’s gaming business coverage for updates as this develops.

Discord just made Nitro a much harder subscription to ignore. Starting this month, every Nitro member gets access to Xbox Game Pass as part of a new benefits programme called Nitro Rewards, with over 50 games included and no price increase.

What Is Nitro Rewards and Where Did It Come From?

Discord officially announced Nitro Rewards on 11 May 2026 as part of Nitro’s 10-year anniversary. The programme bundles gaming services, hardware discounts, and platform rewards directly into the existing Nitro subscription.

Lu Zhang, Senior Director of Product at Discord, explained the thinking: “As we hit Nitro’s 10-year anniversary, we’re launching Nitro Rewards, a brand-new benefits program built with some of the biggest names in gaming.” He was direct about the value proposition for existing subscribers: “Your Nitro membership is still the same price, and Game Pass is now part of it.”

This was not a surprise to everyone watching. The partnership had been datamined weeks earlier, with strings in Discord’s GitHub revealing the “Xbox Game Pass Starter Edition” name, the 50-game catalogue, and the 10-hour cloud gaming allowance. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma had also teased the announcement on April 22, with Discord responding to her post with a single word: “Soon.”

Now it is official.

What Games Come With Nitro’s Xbox Game Pass Tier?

Nitro members get access to a starter library of more than 50 PC and console games. The catalogue leans on strong recognisable titles. Stardew Valley, Hades, Grounded, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, Fable, DayZ, Cities: Skylines, Dishonored 2, Gears of War 5, and DOOM Eternal are all confirmed as part of the package.

The tier also includes 10 hours of cloud gaming per month, letting players stream supported titles across devices without needing the game installed. Discord positioned this as removing the friction of buying games players might only play briefly. The included tier appears to sit at roughly the same level as the Xbox Game Pass Essential catalogue, which covers first-party Microsoft titles and a rotating selection of third-party games.

More titles will be added to the catalogue over time, according to Discord.

Game Pass Itself Just Got Cheaper Too

The Nitro Rewards announcement lands on top of broader changes Microsoft has been making to Game Pass pricing. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate dropped from US$29.99 to US$22.99 per month. PC Game Pass fell from US$16.49 to US$13.99. Both cuts were announced by Xbox CEO Asha Sharma as part of a wider restructuring of the subscription service.

That same restructure also removed day-one Call of Duty launches from Game Pass entirely. Players who want new Call of Duty titles at launch will need to buy them separately going forward.

For Nitro subscribers, the Game Pass starter bundle sits on top of all of this. At US$9.99 per month for Nitro, members are now getting both Discord’s communication and customisation features and a gaming subscription in a single charge.

Hardware Discounts and Orbs Also Added to Nitro

Xbox Game Pass is the headliner, but Nitro Rewards includes more. Discord announced partnerships with Logitech G, SteelSeries, and KontrolFreek. Nitro members can access up to 30% off Logitech G products, 15% off SteelSeries gear, and 20% off KontrolFreek accessories. Those discounts cover keyboards, mice, headsets, and controller accessories, with Discord saying the partner lineup will rotate over time.

On the platform side, Nitro subscribers now also receive 250 Orbs automatically each month just for keeping an active subscription. Discord is also adding an Orbs Multiplier for Quests. The extra Orbs feed into Discord’s Shop, which covers profile cosmetics and other customisation items tied to the platform.

When Does It Roll Out?

Nitro Rewards is rolling out to eligible members over the coming weeks through the Nitro Home section inside Discord. Not every subscriber will see it immediately, but Discord has confirmed the rollout is underway with no additional steps required beyond having an active Nitro membership.

This is a meaningful shift in what Nitro actually is. For the past decade it has been a communication and cosmetics subscription. With Nitro Rewards layering in gaming services and hardware deals, Discord is moving toward something closer to a full gaming membership. Given that Discord sits at the centre of where most PC and console players already spend their time, the logic is easy to follow.

Kick streamer Trainwreck is out of Valorant until June after a 31-day ban that blew up on social media, and a Riot anti-cheat figure stepping in to explain why the “bad at the game” defense doesn’t quite hold up.

What Trainwreck Says Happened

Trainwreck, real name Tyler Niknam, had been queuing Valorant live on stream in a 5-stack that included ProdCM, sinatraa, dapr, and Hamyontwitch. All of them are significantly higher-ranked players. When the ban dropped, Trainwreck posted on X with zero ambiguity about how he felt.

“31 day f***ing ban for being bad at the game and playing live on stream with @ProdCM_ @sinatraa @dapr & @Hamyontwitch in a 5 stack,” he wrote. The in-game suspension message on his account cited “suspicious shifts in skill and unfair play” following player reports and an automated review, with the ban set to last until June 7, 2026.

xQc jumped in to back him up. “For context,” he wrote on X, “train was banned from the game for queuing with friends LUL.” The framing from both of them was simple: big streamer plays with better players, gets flagged by the system, undeserved ban.

Riot’s side of it is a bit more complicated.

What Riot Actually Says

GamerDoc, a Riot anti-cheat figure, posted a clarification that reframed the whole thing. According to him, the problem wasn’t Trainwreck playing with higher-ranked friends — it was who those friends were playing on.

“This wasn’t just a 5-stack with friends on their own accounts,” GamerDoc wrote. “An Immortal player (with prior boosting bans on their main) was swapping between multiple lower-rank smurfs/shared accounts they did not own. That group ran ~80% winrate across ~50 games.”

That’s the part the “bad at the game” framing skips over entirely. Riot’s Community Pact explicitly defines rank manipulation to cover boosting, deranking, and win-trading. Account sharing falls under smurfing, which Riot also classifies as rank manipulation. It’s not a grey area in their rulebook — it’s a direct Terms of Service violation.

The Leaked Messages and the Typo Chaos

Things got messier when screenshots of private messages attributed to GamerDoc leaked. In them, he allegedly said Trainwreck “was getting carried every game” and that the ban would not be reversed.

GamerDoc addressed this in his public clarification, saying one specific line in the screenshots was a typo. He said he wrote “account he doesn’t know” but meant “account he doesn’t own” — a meaningful difference when the whole argument is about whether someone was knowingly playing alongside shared-account boosting.

“Typo on my end, my bad,” he wrote. “I had already said multiple times in the conversation that there were people in that stack using accounts they didn’t own, so I didn’t think I needed to re-clarify it.”

Whether you believe that or not probably depends on how much goodwill you have for Riot right now.

Where Trainwreck Actually Stands

The core tension here is real, and it’s one Valorant has been wrestling with for a while. The game allows 5-stack ranked queues even when rank gaps are wide, which means a lower-ranked player can legitimately queue with Immortal or Radiant players. But “allowed to queue together” and “no one in the stack is breaking rules” are two very different things. Riot isn’t punishing Trainwreck for playing with better players. It’s flagging the stack for the alleged use of smurf and shared accounts by others in the group.

Trainwreck himself hasn’t claimed the ban was lifted as of the latest information available. His account remains suspended until June 7.

Worth noting: this isn’t the streamer’s first run-in with drama, Trainwreck has attracted controversy before, though nothing quite like a Riot ban going viral mid-stream. And given that Riot has previously pulled off ban waves removing tens of thousands of accounts in its crackdown on rank manipulation, the enforcement mechanics here are clearly not new — they’re just rarely aimed at someone with hundreds of thousands of viewers watching in real time.

What to Watch For

The arraignment of facts here is still unfolding. If Trainwreck files a ban appeal or Riot reverts the punishment, that will be the next major development. Keep an eye on GamerDoc’s official Valorant anti-cheat communications for any updates, and on Riot’s Community Pact page if you want to read the exact boosting and smurfing rules yourself. For now, Trainwreck is on the sidelines until June.

Two people are facing criminal charges after a sideshow erupted mid-stream during IShowSpeed’s visit to West Oakland, an incident that sent the YouTuber scrambling onto a restaurant rooftop while cars did donuts below him.

What Happened During the Oakland Stream

IShowSpeed, whose real name is Darren Watkins Jr., stopped at Hyphy Burger on West Grand Avenue near Market Street on November 25, 2025. It was part of his Speed Does America tour, his massive live-streamed road trip across the United States. Within minutes, hundreds of fans descended on the block.

The intersection turned chaotic fast. Fireworks went off. Lowrider cars rolled in. The crowd started chanting “Speed.” Then several drivers began doing donuts in the street while fans ran toward the moving vehicles.

Speed watched it unfold from the Hyphy Burger rooftop, where he and his team had climbed to get out of the crush below. “Why are they running to the car… are they stupid?” he said during the broadcast. “I can’t watch this.” Eventually, he was forced to leave — though even that took a while, with fans surrounding him for photos as he tried to make his way out.

Who Was Charged and What Are the Charges

The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office announced charges against Axel Cisnerosmentos and Aron Anaya. Both face misdemeanor counts of organizing and facilitating a sideshow, as well as aiding and abetting a speed contest. The two are scheduled to appear for arraignment on May 27 at the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in Oakland.

IShowSpeed has not been accused of any wrongdoing. He was a bystander to events he clearly did not want happening around him.

The DA’s Message to Sideshow Organizers

Alameda County DA Ursula Jones Dickson was direct in her statement. “Sideshows are not harmless gatherings,” she said. “These illegal events routinely cause vandalism, reckless driving, injuries, property damage, and pose significant threats to public safety. Individuals who organize, promote, and facilitate these activities will be held accountable.”

The charges come as Bay Area authorities are ramping up enforcement. Just earlier this month, Oakland PD, the San Francisco Police Department, and the California Highway Patrol coordinated a major operation that trapped sideshow participants on the Bay Bridge, seizing 77 dirt bikes and ATVs and making nine arrests. The crackdown is part of a broader push — Oakland passed a sideshow ordinance in June 2023 that made organizing one a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine, though authorities have rarely used it until recently.

This Isn’t the First Time Speed’s Crowds Got Out of Hand

Anyone who follows IShowSpeed knows crowd control has been a recurring problem on his tours. In San Francisco, during the same Bay Area leg, massive crowds followed him through several major landmarks. Earlier on the Speed Does America tour, he was threatened with a rioting charge after a police stop in Dallas. Fans have smashed restaurant windows trying to get to him. A dock collapsed under the weight of people rushing to meet him.

Speed himself has spoken out against fans who endanger others. He called out “weird” fans for driving dangerously near his tour bus during earlier stops. The Oakland clip hit differently though — watching him helpless on a rooftop while an intersection below turned into a sideshow is one of the more surreal moments of his entire streaming career.

What’s Next for Speed

Since the Oakland incident, IShowSpeed has kept the content coming. He completed a Caribbean Tour and racked up nearly 1.92 million concurrent viewers during a Dominican Republic stream — though he later confirmed to fans the numbers had been inflated by viewbots. He’s one of the biggest streamers on the planet right now, and the crowds are only getting larger wherever he goes.

As for the Oakland case, the arraignment on May 27 will be the next major update. Keep an eye on whether the DA pursues any additional charges as Bay Area authorities continue their sideshow crackdown. With IShowSpeed’s history of chaotic fan encounters, it probably won’t be the last time his streams make news for all the wrong reasons.